What happens in Valhalla
by Cissmoll
Summary: Short stories about Caius and Lightning during their eternal war. What happens in Valhalla, stays in Valhalla. [No. 2] Warmth
1. The Experiment

After spending an indefinite period of time in Valhalla, Lightning was starting to notice some strange things about her eternal opponent. She always gave the fights her all, using every ounce of strength and magic in her body. It was enough to keep herself alive but she was never even close to permanently defeating Caius. At first, she'd thought they were of equal strength since none of them ever managed to end the war between them. Then, she'd started noticing the uncharacteristic mistakes he seemed to make every time he came close to winning. Most of the time he was at a slight advantage, both thanks to his mighty Bahamut form and his centuries of practice, but every time he had the chance to actually kill her he would let his blade slip or his magic miss. It was weird, and Lightning was getting seriously irritated. She had no idea if keeping her alive was a part of his grand plan or if he was just playing with her. Either way, she didn't like it. Being Etro's pawn was more than enough; she didn't want to be a part of his game too.

In the middle of one of their more intense fights, Lightning decided to take a chance. She knew she had to stay alive to protect the goddess, but she also knew that simply staying alive would not be enough to protect the world if Caius were working on a new plan. She had to know if he was actively keeping her alive. She had to know _why. _

The fight had begun on the beach but had slowly moved from the ground up to the roof of one of the Valhalla's many abandoned buildings. Caius was in his human form but his eyes flickered with red every time he swung his blade. Lightning knew he'd turn into his monster form soon.

The next time Caius raised his sword, Lightning decided to leave an opening. She blocked his attack with her gunblade but left an obvious window between the sword and her shield. If Caius wanted to, he could easily drive his sword into her unprotected side. She knew he'd noticed the vulnerability – he was too good of a fighter not to notice it – but he didn't move. Their eyes met. Caius' lips were smirking as usual, but his eyes showed a hint of inner conflict.

Lightning jumped back to put some distance between them before charging, mixing physical and elemental attacks. Caius blocked it all, that strange glimmer of pride and amusement back in his eyes. He loved fighting her, Lightning realized, her irritation growing every second.

"Stop playing with me!" Lightning yelled, anger flaring up inside her. Her attacks got more intense as she used her emotions as fuel. She got braver, leaving more and more obvious openings.

"Stop it," Caius growled, his sword only grazing her, leaving shallow flesh wounds where he could have cut her in half.

"Or what?" Lightning said, raising her eyebrows in an unmistakable challenge.

"I do not want to do something I would forever regret," he said in a low voice, his eyes beginning to glow. In an explosion of purple he turned into his Bahamut form. The power from the transformation sent Lightning flying, pushing her over the edge of the building. Lightning automatically began to summon Odin, but then changed her mind. It was a gamble, she knew that, and the odds weren't in her favor. She was putting her trust in a mad man whose motives she couldn't even begin to understand. _But I have to know, _she thought, looking at the sky as her body rushed towards the ground. Her heart was racing and the fear was threatening to take over her mind, but she managed to keep her body motionless as gravity did its job. She closed her eyes. _I have to know. _

Two strong arms caught her before she hit the ground. She opened her eyes again to look at her rescuer. His eyes were still glowing red but he was back in his human form. His face was hard, but the grip around her waist and thighs was gentle.

"What are you doing?" Caius hissed, landing on the beach with Lightning in his arms. "Do you wish for death?"

Lightning blinked. She'd definitely gotten her answer, but she hadn't exactly thought it through. _Now what? _she thought, staring up at Caius. He looked angry as usual, but he also looked a bit worried.

"You are hurt," he stated, dropping her unceremoniously in the sand.

"Wasn't that the point?" Lightning grunted in irritation. She tried to get up but was hit by a wave of dizziness. A trickle of blood threatened to reach her eye so she quickly wiped it off, wondering when she'd hit her head.

Caius kneeled beside her. He whispered something under his breath and placed his hands on the wound on her head. Lightning could feel the tingling warmth of a spell take over her, healing her from the inside out.

"Regen? You cast regen on me?" she asked, too perplexed to move.

Caius didn't answer. His hand wandered downwards, caressing her cheek. His touch was strangely gentle and he had a soft, almost affectionate look on his face.

"Why?" Lightning continued, slightly breathless. "Why won't you let me die? Aren't you supposed to defeat me and then destroy the world? Why-"

Caius abruptly stood up, turning his back on her. "Find me when you're ready," he said before once again turning into his Bahamut form.

Lightning forced herself back up on her feet. "What do you want, Caius? What the hell do you want?" she yelled after him as he flied away on his monstrous wings. If Caius heard her, he didn't show it.

Lightning sat down in the sand again, allowing the regen spell to heal her wounds. Her experiment had been successful, but she had no idea what to do with the results. She still had no idea what her opponent was planning or why he insisted on keeping her alive. _No one knows what the hell Caius Ballad wants, _she thought with a sigh. Then she grinned humorlessly, remembering the look of confusion Caius had worn before flying off. _Not even Caius Ballad himself. _


	2. Warmth

Caius wasn't sure exactly when he'd stopped caring about the fate of the world, but he knew that the death of his first Yeul had been the start of it.

He grew up believing in Etro, the goddess of death and chaos who protected those who protected themselves. He prayed to her, just like everyone else in his small village. When he was out hunting, he could always feel her divine protection at his back. She was the goddess of death, the saint who watched over the hunters. He would never have thought that he'd one day hate her more than anything in the world.

After the death of his third Yeul, he stopped praying to Etro. To him, fal'Cie was no longer a protector of any kind. He could only see her as the goddess who'd forced a girl into the horrible fate of going through life over and over but never getting the chance to actually grow up.

The seventh Yeul died on her sixteenth birthday. She'd been an especially curious one, longing for the day she'd be old enough to travel the world. Caius yelled at the night sky that night, cursing Etro and her divine powers. He screamed until his throat was raw and his voice was just a hoarse whisper. He wished he could just end it all, to make the pain go away, but he couldn't. He had to live on to protect the seeresses of the future. If he died, there would no longer be anyone who remembered the many Yeuls and their selfless sacrifices. He had to live on, even though he'd never desired the gift of immortality Etro had bestowed upon him. He had to live on for the Yeuls of the past and the many Yeuls to come.

When he watched Yeul die for the thirteenth time, he didn't even shed a tear. The pain felt like a red-hot knife in his chest, but his eyes remained dry. He was too furious to cry.

When Yeul died for the sixty-seventh time, he decided that enough was enough. He would kill Etro, even though he knew her death would lead to the end of the world. Yeul's endless suffering would finally end, and when it did, so would his. He would watch the world burn, and then he would finally be free.

_So why do I never deal the final blow? _he wondered as he watched Etro's champion summon her eidolon protector. The eidolon grabbed Lightning's arm and flung her towards him. She soared through the air, leaving behind a trail of rose petals and white feathers. Caius unsheathed his sword. Lightning was a talented fighter, but she was still young. So very, very young. She always let her emotions rule her actions, and she was easy to provoke. If he wanted to, he knew he could end the fight. He could finish her and thereby destroy Etro's final defense. _So why do I find it so difficult to kill her? _

A smirk played on his lips as Lightning attacked. He blocked her gunblade with his sword, putting all his weight behind his movement. Lightning was forced to take a step back, and she nearly growled with frustration. Caius' smirk widened. He knew he should be trying to end the fight, but he couldn't help but enjoy himself. She was strong and unpredictable, and he had to admit that she had proven herself to be a formidable challenge.

"Stop playing with me!" Lightning hissed, her strikes turning wilder the angrier she got. "I'm ending this now!"

"Give it your best, warrior goddess," he replied, watching with amusement as the pet name made his opponent even more furious.

Their swords clashed over and over as they demolished yet another part of Valhalla. She managed to give him shallow cuts on his cheek and torso, but in the end he had her cornered against the wall of one of Valhalla's many ruins. She held her head up high and raised her sword, not even a hint of fear in her eyes. In that moment, she truly did look like a goddess.

"Do it," she said. "Finish me."

Caius froze.

Lightning cocked an eyebrow. "It's true, isn't it? You can't kill me. You—"

Caius interrupted her by turning into his Bahamut form, sending a powerful shockwave through the air. Lightning slammed into the stone wall, hit her head and lost consciousness. She tumbled to the ground, landing hard on her back in the sand. Caius immediately switched back into human form and kneeled next to her to check her pulse. _I need to find another tactic for avoiding her questions, _he thought as he cast a regen spell over her body. It had become a habit, something he always did when he'd knocked her out to make sure he hadn't given her any permanent injuries. The thought of her never opening those challenging blue eyes again did not appeal to him at all.

He knew that if he kept knocking her out every time she asked him questions he didn't want to answer, he would one day end up killing her on accident. That was the extent of the power Etro had given him, pulsating from the heart of chaos in his chest. That was the price of his immortality. _Sooner or later, they always die, _he thought bitterly. _They always leave me behind. _

Lightning frowned in her sleep. She would wake up soon, and then she'd be at it again, attacking him over and over with seemingly endless energy. He gently touched her face, stroking her messy pink locks from her eyes. When she awoke, he would pretend that she'd only been out for seconds. He would never admit the existence of these moments, the short minutes where he got to watch over her without her trying to kill him. He treasured those moments. In her waking state, she was like a thunderstorm – powerful, uncontrollable, an unstoppable divine force – but beneath all that, she was a woman. A woman who would give her life to protect the ones she loved. In a way, she reminded him of his old self; the person he'd been before he took on the responsibility of defending time itself.

His thumb grazed her lips. The armor covering her arms and torso was hard and impenetrable, but her skin was warm and soft. It seemed like every time he looked at her like this, every time he got the chance to touch her impossibly soft lips, something strange happened inside him. Somehow, this woman had the power to awaken something inside him that wasn't just pain and hatred. Something he hadn't felt since he watched his first Yeul die.

Something warm.


End file.
